It's
now been a few years since I wrote the first two parts of my TVparty
articles and I thought it was time for an update. In fact, the TVparty
features prompted the release of my book THE MAKING OF THE RANKIN/BASS
HOLIDAY CLASSIC: RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER (MISER BROS PRESS)
in 2001 and this article is an update to that book.

In the last few years there have been photos that have been found, ANIMAGIC
figures discovered and RUDOLPH even celebrated his 40th TV
birthday. There have been many bad things related to the classic RANKIN/BASS
RUDOLPH TV special and many good things as well; let's start
with the bad things and end with the good!

In
1998, Classic Media's then President Alexander Drosin asked Arthur Rankin,
Jr. to do an introduction for the DVD release of both RUDOLPH
and FROSTY THE SNOWMAN. Mr. Rankin graciously agreed to participate
in exchange for the RANKIN/BASS name to be carried on the DVD front
cover (which it was).

Arthur could be seen in the filmed introduction holding
my book, THE ENCHANTED WORLD OF RANKIN/BASS: A PORTFOLIO, discussing
the story of RUDOLPH complete with behind-the-scenes photos
provided by myself - at no charge - to make sure this type of extra
reached the DVD for the many fans of RANKIN/BASS and RUDOLPH THE
RED-NOSED REINDEER. I also provided the front cover image for that
DVD release (for little cost and a photo credit).

While the 1998 release of the DVD was not completely loaded with extras,
it did have the re-mastered song FAME & FORTUNE, an NBC promo from
1966 and the Arthur Rankin introduction - which made for a nice package.

In 2003, Arthur Rankin was graced with a night in his honor at the NEW
YORK MUSEUM OF TELEVISION & RADIO. Mr. Rankin graciously had me
fly out and participate in this great event in RANKIN/BASS history.

After I arrived in New York, we both learned that the
newest DVDs no longer featured the RANKIN/BASS name on the front cover.
It seemed odd but Mr. Rankin was told it was a mistake that would be
corrected the following year.

It seems that Alexander Drosin left the company and new
people moved in... none of which showed up to the MUSEUM OF TELEVISION
& RADIO tribute.

In
2004, not only was the mistake on the DVD front cover not corrected
but a DESTINY'S CHILD DVD and CD were added to the RUDOLPH package and
the special even aired a second time on CBS - with the DESTINY'S CHILD
video over the ending!?!?

I will never forget (the show's composer) Maury Laws'
reaction of disbelief to this mess.

Needless to say, the 2007 release of the RANKIN/BASS RUDOLPH THE
RED-NOSED REINDEER DVD no longer has the Arthur Rankin, Jr. introduction
on the single DVD or the box set (which has a book-type packaging).
This is a shame for RANKIN/BASS collector's that didn't already own
the earlier DVD and makes no sense whatsoever as an attempt to get people
to re-purchase the DVD.

Some fans are telling me that scenes have been deleted
from the 2005 DVDs and from the broadcast on CBS that year (in so-called
"HIGH DEFINITION" which is a joke).

The
soundtrack to the song 'WE'RE A COUPLE OF MISFITS' was placed over the
animated sequence for 'FAME & FORTUNE' and it didn't match up. The
musical section of 'WE ARE SANTA'S ELVES' was missing again as well.
Obviously, this restoration was done by people who didn't care and had
no knowledge of the classic special. It doesn't even sound like they
had a copy of my book.

The PEPPERMINT MINE sequence has still never aired on
CBS; it hasn't been seen on the networks since 1964 and I am not even
sure if it is on the 2007 release of the DVD.

There is also a back story to this. In 2001, I heard from Bernard Cowan's
son Elliot. Bernard Cowan was the voice actor supervisor for the early
RANKIN/BASS specials and series. He assembled the staff of these great
actors in Canada for RUDOLPH. Ellie is a film maker and has
many rare photos that his dad took at the RUDOLPH sessions
and even unused dialogue and demos of the songs. For instance, the SAM
THE SNOWMAN songs were originally recorded by Larry D. Mann (Yukon Cornelius)
and he also provided the dialogue for Sam.

Elliot made a valiant effort at trying to get Classic Media to do a
'MAKING OF' special for the DVD release and even, possibly, for CBS.
He is based in Canada and can interview the surviving actors and assemble
the whole thing. As you know, this never happened. It fell on deaf ears
at Classic Media. They and Sony felt the Destiny's Child thing served
this classic special much better than a documentary featuring the original
creators and cast that made RUDOLPH successful for 40+ years!

Now on to some of the good news!

Billie
Mae Richards and I became great friends shortly after the 'MAKING
OF RUDOLPH' book was released. She loved the book and even tried
to get her neighbor Paul Soles (Hermey the elf) to come around to enjoying
his RUDOLPH fame. Billie Mae and I appeared on many radio shows
together in 2002-2004 and she could still do the voice. She was also
featured in the Chicago Tribune and TV Guide.

In late 2005, Billie Mae suffered a stroke and is in the
process of rehabilitation at age 85. Our prayers are with her. I am
hopeful we will be talking about RUDOLPH again in 2007 together!

Many
of the photos you see on this page are new and recently discovered shots
that did not make my book. A few even came from an old NBC TV executive
who sold his slides on Ebay. We also found an extremely rare 45 single
release of Burl Ives' 'Holly Jolly Christmas' from Decca Records. This
cover is even better than the LP cover.

The biggest piece of good news comes in the form of the discovery and
purchase of the original ANIMAGIC figures of RUDOLPH and SANTA in November,
2005 by timeandspacetoys.com.
Owner Kevin Kreiss purchased the original figures from a private seller
who had an aunt that worked as Arthur Rankin's secretary for some years.
She had brought home the cast of characters from the office during one
of the moves they made in New York.

Over
the years, the figures were put out at Christmastime around the family
tree and even played with by the children. They were also stored in
an attic where the other characters (like Sam the Snowman and Yukon
Cornelius) were melted together and discarded. At least Rudolph and
Santa survived and have been restored. I contacted some of the original
ANIMAGIC technicians to try to get parts made for these weathered guys
to get them back to 1964 shape. (You'll
see the amazing results on page 6 of this feature!)

There is a possibility that they may be used for replications
that could be sold at some point. They will also be traveling around
to various shows at the TIMEANDSPACETOYS.COM booth for all you RANKIN/BASS
fans to enjoy, such as WIZARD WORLD in Chicago. They made their debut
at a convention in PA in late-2005.

The
future of RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER is not exactly guided
by a red lit nose these days but I will make sure that people don't
forget about the creators ARTHUR RANKIN, JR. and JULES BASS and all
the GREAT people that made the special last like: ROMEO MULLER, MAURY
LAWS, JOHNNY MARKS, TONY PETERS, BILLIE MAE RICHARDS, PAUL SOLES, LARRY
D. MANN, BILL GILES, KYOKO KITA, BARNARD COWAN, ALFIE SCOPP, PAUL KLIGMAN,
HOROSHI TABATA, TAD MOCHINAGA, ICHIRO KOMURO, ROBERT MAY, JANIS ORENSTEIN,
CARL BANAS, PEG DIXON, CORRINE CONLEY, LARRY ROEMER and the many Japanese
animators at MOM Studios.

These are the people responsible for the longest-running,
highest-rated TV special of all-time! I did about 100 radio and TV interviews
for the holidays and these people are the ones I talk about.

The heart and the warmth that makes this show a part of
many families' lives, generation after generation, comes from this group
of people and no one can take that away from them! No one!